The goal of this project is to increase access to food resources for children living in poverty by increasing access to in-school, summer, and afterschool meal programs. This will require growing volunteer recruitment and training programs, conducting marketing and outreach about meal programs and developing a system to improve the effectiveness of the meal programs. This VISTA project will move low income children out of poverty by increasing access to food when school is not in session resulting in increased success in learning year around and healthier futures.
The goal of the project is to increase access to healthy foods for low income youth by developing a teaching garden that will generate interest in the production and use of nutritious foods. This will require engaging youth in the development and management of a teaching garden, and recruiting youth struggling with food security to manage, market and ultimately, directly benefit from their garden produce. This project will help alleviate poverty by providing at risk youth opportunities to increase food security by learning gardening techniques unique to Montana weather, nutrition, and how to cook healthy meals using fresh produce.
The goal of the project is to increase access to preventative health care for low income families by increasing school based and senior dental programs to communities in Rural Montana. This will require seeking input from community partners and the public; standardizing and developing programmatic toolkits and online trainings; identifying communities with the greatest needs of, and barriers to, preventative dental healthcare; developing new partnerships in communities; and developing a volunteer program. This project will alleviate poverty by preventing dental disease in low-income children. Studies have demonstrated that poor oral health decreases employability and increases lost work hours resulting in reduced business productivity as adults.
This project will increase access to healthcare by providing education to, and empowering low income seniors on fraud while also providing targeted opioid abuse and prevention programs. This will require reviewing the first year VISTA project; assessing the community needs of 6 counties; developing a strategic plan to address Medicare fraud; partnering with opioid programs to develop opioid programming; developing public education materials; and evaluating the effectiveness of the program. This VISTA project will move seniors and veterans out of poverty by providing education to stop Medicare waste, fraud and abuse, reducing the amount of expenses seniors are forced to pay allowing it to be easier to pay for other living expenses.
This project will increase access to preventative healthcare programs for low-income, rural, and tribal communities by developing and distributing a universal resource fair toolkit. This will require developing partnerships to provide content for the toolkit; formalizing a mini-grant process; seeking board approval for the allocation of funding; and researching funding resources, applying for grants, and seeking financial partnerships. This project will alleviate poverty by allowing communities the ability to bring resource fairs to their area, giving low-income individuals living in rural areas access to supports they may not have known about, or were unable to access due to transportation challenges.
The goal of the project is to increase access to preventative healthcare to reduce teen pregnancy, teen dating violence and sexual violence. This will require recruiting new contractors to provide services; developing an informative mini-grant process; recruiting at least 10 specialists to apply for mini-grant funds; coordinating monthly calls, providing technical assistance and training to mini-grant sites; monitoring the success of the program and applying for funding opportunities to ensure sustainability of the project. This project will move at-risk youth out of poverty by increasing access to healthcare services and prevention resources across the state.
This project will increase access to healthcare services for low income and at-risk individuals by providing trainings and coordinating efforts across Montana for the prevention and effective response to human trafficking and sexual assault. This will require the VISTA member to develop an outreach program; provide training on human trafficking and sexual assault; share best practices to task forces across the state; develop and implement a resource database. This VISTA project will move low income individuals, victims, and those at risk of human trafficking and sexual assault out of poverty by increasing access to healthcare services and prevention resources across the state.
The goal of this project to provide services to K-12 students living in poverty to improve academic engagement by developing and implementing afterschool, summer, and in-school experiential educational programming utilizing properties located in low income areas of the Helena Valley. This will include assessing the current environmental educational opportunities and develop partnerships to establish age-appropriate environmental education curriculums. This VISTA project will move low income and at-risk youth out of poverty by facilitating deeper and increased amounts of outdoor educational experiences resulting in higher success rates in school.
The goal of this project is to improve academic engagement for students living in poverty by identifying barriers facing low-income students and expanding afterschool participation across the state. This will require researching and contacting current afterschool programs; developing a database of afterschool programs, including opioid abuse programs; determining what barriers low-income students face in participating in afterschool programs; developing a communication plan and tools; and developing new partnerships with local and state programs. This project will help alleviate poverty by closing the achievement gap for students living in poverty by increasing access to afterschool programming in low-income communities.
The goal of this project is to increase access to mental health and substance use treatment for low-income individuals needing inpatient crisis intervention by assessing Mental Health Centers and hospitals across the state to identify availability of emergency detention beds and treatment services, including opioid treatment services, offered to keep people in crisis treated in or near their own community. This will require developing assessments and a database that includes treatment parameters that are available at the crisis center or facility. This VISTA project will move individuals that need secure inpatient crisis intervention out of poverty by providing current, up to date data for emergency detention beds that are available statewide.
The goal of this project is to increase access to preventative health care services and disease screening processes to low income patients by developing a sustainable patient navigation project in Montana's 16 Federally Qualified Community Health Centers. This will require investigating the current state of patient navigation in Montana, researching other successful Patient Navigation programs and developing a strategic plan for Montana; and identify and apply for grant funding to allow for the long-term sustainability. This project will move at risk households out of poverty by increasing access to healthcare, including preventative disease screening, ensuring that households do not sink further into poverty due to a diagnosis of cancer.
The goal of this project is to increase academic performance for homeless teens living in Kalispell by providing a place to access computers, receive tutoring, participate in afterschool and opioid prevention programming. This will require evaluating existing partnerships; developing a new curriculum for HEART Volunteers; updating the volunteer program, identifying and pursuing funding streams; developing a learning center tracking system; and developing partnerships with community programs to leverage programming targeting homeless children. This project will help alleviate poverty by providing homeless students supports that are proven to lead to higher graduation rates, and by providing opioid abuse prevention programs to homeless teens.
Current VISTA: Natasha Popkin
This project will increase access to healthcare and preventative services to homeless youth by establishing the need for homeless youth programming, including targeted opioid abuse programming in Missoula. This will include working closely with community stakeholders to develop data collection systems and identifying current youth specific programming in order to improve services available to homeless youth. This VISTA project will move homeless youth out of poverty by establishing the need for youth homelessness programs in Missoula resulting in early intervention and youth specific outreach to break the cycle of violence, addiction, trauma and poverty.
The goal of this VISTA project is to increase access to mental health services to individuals and families in rural communities across Montana by identifying current barriers to use and expansion of telehealth services. The VISTA will research and assess the current barriers and assist in the development of a strategic plan for enhancing current services. This VISTA project will move individuals with psychiatric disabilities and substance use disorders out of poverty by providing needed services via telehealth resulting in decreased symptoms and increased chances at success in sustainable employment.
AWARE Inc., Employment Support
The goal of this VISTA project is to increase access to employment and healthcare services to adults with severe Disabling Mental Illness or Developmental Disabilities. The VISTA will partner with current state departments and organizations to provide more robust and evidence based customized employment services to Montanans with severe mental illness or disabilities. This VISTA project will move adults with severe mental illness or disabilities out of poverty by improving employment outcomes resulting in improvements in income status, housing status, social opportunities and improved mental health outcomes.
The goal of this project is to increase access to food resources for low income individuals in the Flathead Valley by identifying the barriers that currently exist with current food resource programs and implementing a plan to remedy those barriers. This will require engaging community stakeholders and the low income community to assess the barriers and identify solutions and use these findings to improve or expand food access programs currently operating in Flathead County. This project will move low income individuals out of poverty by increasing access to food resources.
The goal of this project is to Increase access to food resources to low-income families on the Blackfeet Nation by establishing the Blackfeet Community Food Resource Center Food Pantry. This will require working closely with the Board of Directors to develop a master plan for a Food Pantry, identify educational curriculums to be provided on food sovereignty and creating a volunteer recruitment and management plan. This VISTA project will move low-income individuals on the Blackfeet community out of poverty by increasing access to food resources resulting in a reduction of food insecurity on the Blackfeet Nation.
The of this project is the increase access to healthcare to low-income Veterans by providing specified treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder through a unique, holistic, long-term residential ranch. This will require assessing the needs of low-income veterans, identifying barriers preventing veterans suffering from PTSD from accessing support and developing and growing partnerships to address those needs. The VISTA will identify funding sources, operational partnerships, including partners working on Opioid issues, and develop and grow a volunteer base. This project will move Veterans out of poverty by providing mental health services and social re-orientation, resulting in the ability to live independently and sustain a job with a reduced risk of suicide.
The goal of this project is to increase food access for low-income students in the Bigfork and Somers-Lakeside School Districts by developing and expanding school breakfast, afterschool, and summer meal programs. This will require developing and administering assessments to staff and students; developing and implementing a strategic plan for alternative breakfast models; developing and implementing a strategic plan for afterschool meal programs; developing a strategic plan for summer meals program; and developing a volunteer network to organize and sustain the project. The project will move low-income students out of poverty by increasing access to food resources both during and after school hours.